The intersection of Sports & Islam

Abdur-Rahim helps build Sacramento mosque

Saturday, Feb. 22 marked the grand opening of Masjid As-Sabur in Sacramento’s Oak Park neighborhood, the first mosque in Northern California built primarily by African-Americans, according to the Sacramento Bee.

Most of the funds to build the 3,500-square-foot structure were donated by retired NBA star Shareef Abdur-Rahim, who used to play for the Sacramento Kings and is currently the general manager of the Kings’ D-league affiliate Reno Bighorns.

“The people here remind me of the community I grew up in in Atlanta where my father was an imam,” Abdur-Rahim told the Bee. “They are decent people collectively working and sacrificing to do something in their community with not a lot of resources, and I am blessed I could be a part of those efforts.”

For its opening weekend, the masjid provided free health screenings and assistance in signing up for health insurance. Its congregation is known in the city for giving groceries to the needy, feeding the homeless, organizing backpack drives for local children, and working to eliminate truancy, vagrancy and graffiti.